It’s been more than 10 years, but Reston resident Linda Yingling still doesn’t know how she became so wrapped up in her duties as manager of Herndon’s Bargain Loft.
"I just sort of fell into it," Linda Yingling said with laugh, while sitting in the charity thrift store’s office. "The people you meet are just so great, and it really gets you coming back day after day."
Yingling, 64, a retired retail worker has volunteered at the Bargain Loft for the last 10 years and has held the position as general manager of the store for the last three. As she has been spending more time in the colder winter months with her retiring husband at their home in Florida, Yingling is looking to pass the torch to a new volunteer manager and take a more peripheral role with the organization.
"We’ve had a good stable person here at the Bargain Loft for the last several years, it’s going to be hard to see her moving out of the manager’s position," said Marcia DiTrapani, president of Reston-Herndon Friendly Instant Sympathetic Help (FISH), which operates the thrift store. "I think Linda has been a great ambassador for FISH and an excellent leader, and has really been a dependable part of our team for a long time."
THE BARGAIN LOFT, located off of Spring Street in Herndon, acts as the primary funding source for Reston-Herndon FISH, a local non-profit organization that provides short-term financial relief for members of the community in times of crisis. It raises money by accepting donated items such as furniture and electronics from the community, rehabbing them as needed, and selling them through the store and on the Internet.
From July 2006 to July 2007, the Bargain Loft raised more than $80,000 — about 40 percent of total yearly funding — for Reston-Herndon FISH, according to the group’s figures. The group has even ventured onto Ebay.com in recent years to sell more specialized merchandise.
While it was a desire to get active in the community that led Yingling to volunteer, it was the personal relationships and the sense of accomplishment as a team that has kept her coming back. The two-hour-a-week commitment she originally put in has grown to about 25 hours a week, she added.
"It’s such a friendly environment, and all the volunteers, they’re all so great and supportive," Yingling said. "You’re here for them and they’re here for you, it’s a great place to work."
And working at the Bargain Loft for the last decade has been rewarding for more than the personal relationships and interest, as a way of serving the community, Yingling said. That fact is made clear to Yingling every time she looks through the dozens of letters that arrive each month from people in the community assisted through FISH, thanking them for the support.
"You know with each sale that you’re giving back to the community," she said. "It makes me feel like we’re really helping, like we’re making a big difference."
For FISH and the community members they work with, the Bargain Loft makes a major difference.
"It means everything to have the Bargain Loft as a steady source of funding," DiTrapani said. "It is the basis for what we can offer to the community."
YINGLING HAS done more than just raise money for the organization. Since coming on 10 years ago, she has been responsible for establishing an organized system of day managers for the store, setting up a more organized volunteer schedule system and most recently installing cash registers and training staff on how to use them.
"She’s always here, and she’s so helpful and supportive, like her patience with [training staff on] the cash registers," said Jane Blanchard, Thursday’s manager at the Bargain Loft. "She always very accepting of everyone for who they are, she’s one of those people who is just easy to work with."
But without a volunteer with enough experience or enough time to make the necessary commitments to become general manager of the store, FISH is scouring the community for someone with the right qualifications to lead the Bargain Loft into the future, according to DiTrapani. The general manager works to organize the volunteers, take charge of item pricing and represent the organization in the community.
"Working with volunteers is very different from working with paid employees," said DiTrapani, "so while we’re looking for someone with experience, we’re really looking for a people person, who can build the relationships you need in an all-volunteer environment."
And while Yingling will be taking a more "back seat" role at the Bargain Loft once a successful candidate is chosen, her history with the organization will keep her coming back to help out.
"I’m not running off, I’ll still be here," she said with a laugh. "When you work at a place for so long and get to know the people, you can’t just all of a sudden leave."